As The Black Rose Smolders Red
by Naflower05
Summary: Cassiopeia Black is sick and tired of her older brother's over protective behavior. Add in a twin in Slytherin, a love interest that Sirius will definitely NOT approve of, and some skeletons in her closet and it will make for a hectic Hogwarts experience.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: Hello All, this is now new and improved. Not much of an overall plot change, just fixed up all the horrendous typos and grammatical errors. And the super exaggerated stuff that makes a story really annoying. Anyways, this story was inspired by 'The Fifth Marauder" by Vera Rose Nightingale, so if you like this story, read hers as well.

Disclaimer: The characters you recognize are not mine, only the plot, and even that I can't be sure about. Just know I did not take anyone's idea on purpose.

Ugh! I hated him, he was such an immature, arrogant prat! He thought he was so much better than me just because he was older, and only by one year! 'Who is this jerk?' you ask? He's my brother. My fifteen-year-old brother. What a brother he was too: hated my twin because he got put in Slytherin, and hated me because I wouldn't let him control my life. He walks around with his stupid friends and acts as if he runs the entire castle. It's so infuriating. Well, maybe I am being unfair, when they aren't acting like prats, his friends are pretty cool, and pretty fun to hang around. It was just so annoying when they got all protective over me. I mean if having two brothers that would kill just because you were talking to a guy is bad enough, try having five! Well, more like four, one of his friends probably didn't care at all.

I've just realized I gave almost an entire rant without telling you who I am, why I'm so upset, or who my brother is. Well I'm Cassiopeia Black, I know you hear that name and think: _Black, as in_ _The__ Sirius Black? That really hot guy that I've had a crush on since first year?_ Yeah, well it is that Sirius Black, I mean come on, how many people do you know that have the name Sirius Black? Well that's just because our parents are whack jobs, come on now, they have to have some weird obsession with stars; There's Sirius: the brightest star in the sky and the chest of Orion's hunting dog, Regulus: the brightest star in the constellation Leo, and me, Cassiopeia: a constellation. What is wrong with them? But I'm straying off my point. So I am Cassiopeia Black, Cassi for short, my older brother is Sirius Black, and my twin is Regulus Black. Now what exactly did Sirius do to piss me off so much? Lets see shall we?

_It was lunchtime but two students weren't in the Great Hall, they were in the library, they were both quite behind on homework and needed to finish. However about half way through the period the girl threw down her quill in frustration. "I can't do it." She stated to the boy working opposite her. "I'm drowning in work that I will never finish. I'm going to drop out of Hogwarts!" She gave an exasperated sigh, and sat back in her chair, her arms now folded across her chest._

"_Don't give up Cassi, we'll get through this mountain of homework somehow, but you know what I think?" he asked her, the shadow of a smirk playing across his face._

"_What do you think Aaron?" she was smiling slightly now too._

" _I think all this homework is stressing us out, we need a break, you know, some time to just have fun and be teenagers." Cassie looked uncertain, and she was about to answer, but seeing the look on her face he started again, cutting her off. "And don't try to deny it, if you had some fun wouldn't this be much easier?"_

"_Yes" she responded half-grudgingly while rolling her eyes._

"_See" he was completely smiling now. "Listen, there's a Hogsmead trip this Saturday, you wanna go?" her mouth almost dropped, but she was able to keep it up. Was he, Aaron Samuels finally asking her on a date? It was too good to be true, it had to be. And it was, for he quickly added "as friends of course."_

"_Oh" she said, slightly downcast, but picked up her mood, "Yeah, I'd love to go to Hogsmead with you, finally get over this homework 24/7 thing."_

_Mean while in the Great Hall, a concerned older brother was looking around for his sister, but he didn't see her. When he voiced his concern it was Remus who suggested that maybe she was in the library. "After all, she probably has a lot to catch up on after being in the hospital wing because of that bludger."_

"_Yeah, you're right Remus, thanks, I think I'll go see if she needs any help." And with that Sirius Black got up and went to the library to look for his sister._

_When he entered the library he started towards the back, where he knew she would always sit, as he got closer he could hear her tinkling laughter, and knew she was not alone. But he hoped for the sake of whomever she was with that it was a girl. As he came around the last bookshelf he saw that she was in fact sitting with a boy, he felt his rage boil up inside, but tried to remain calm._

_"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked. At his voice her laughter stopped and she turned around to face him._

"_In case you don't remember, I was hit with a bludger during last week's game and got a pile of extra work because of it." She replied as though it was obvious what she was doing, and she did not understand the fury in her brothers' eyes. But she did, she understood he was pissed because she was sitting alone with a guy. But really: What's the big deal?_

"_Yeah, I do remember that, but why are you with _him_?" his voice sounded like it had venom in it when he said the last word._

"_Because, he has some homework to finish too, it's not a crime to do work in the library." Cassi replied with venom in her voice as well._

"_Why were you sitting together?" he asked immediately. Cassi stood, and faced him full on before replying._

"_First of all we are friends, second of all why do you care, and third of all, as much as I'm sure you'd love to control who I'm friends with Sirius, you can't, and it is none of your business who I spend my time around. I'm not a baby, I don't need you to stand around and watch everything I do, I can take care of myself thank you very much, now if you would excuse me I have loads of work to do, goodbye." She sent him a death glare and sat back down. However much to her displeasure he did not leave. "That's your cue to leave." She said quite nastily._

"_No."_

"_Yes."_

"_No,"_

"_Sirius, I have work to do, go away." She turned back to her paper and he made to walk away, before doubling back and hiding behind the shelf and pulling out his wand._

_The two fourth years continued working after Cassi apologized for her brother's behavior, and assured Aaron it wasn't just him her brother hated, but all guys. They were un aware that all of Cassi's belongings, except for her parchment, quill, and ink bottle, were all moving ever so slowly into her bag, when everything else was in Sirius waited for her to dip her quill in her ink well before putting that in her bag too, then he quickly did then same with her paper and quill. He ran out behind her, and while she was completely distracted about where her things had gone, he grabbed her wrist and bag, and pulled her out of the library while she screamed bloody murder. The librarian was not pleased and banished both of them from the library for three weeks. For Sirius it didn't matter, he never went in there anyways unless he was looking for Cassi. She however, loved the library and wasn't pleased about the arrangement, he dragged her all the way back to Gryffindor tower before letting go of her. It was empty, because most of the students were still at lunch, but they would be returning shortly._

_She turned around and slapped him "Do you have any idea how much I need the library right now? I'm behind in all of my classes, and now I can't even go and get books because of you!" She went to slap him again, but this time he caught her hand, and shoved it back at her side._

"_Well maybe you shouldn't go sneaking around with boys!" He returned._

"_Sneaking? Sneaking?" Now she was shouting. "Sirius, we were doing homework in a completely public place, we weren't sneaking!" _

"_No one was there!" He yelled back at her accusingly._

_"That's not my fault, and actually someone was there: the Librarian! And it's not like we were doing anything either so I don't see what the big problem is!"_

"_Well I do!"_

"_Care to enlighten me then?" she asked_

"_You were there together all alone_!_" he yelled back at her just as that portrait hole opened emitting half of Gryffindor, most who stopped dead upon hearing the screaming. Cassi ignored them and shouted back._

"_I already told you nothing happened," Her voice dropped to just above a whisper, "don't you trust me?"_

"_No!" Sirius immediately replied, still yelling. Then he turned towards the door when he heard James call his name, realizing for the first time they had an audience he turned back to Cassi just in time for her to punch him in the face and storm up to her dormitory. She slammed the door and broke down on her bed crying._

Authors Note: So did you like it? Are they too terrible towards each other? Please let me know, and as always: Read and Review.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: REVISED 4/29/12

I couldn't believe him, why did he have to be such an arrogant jerk! I lay down underneath my covers and turned my back from the door. After lying there I heard two people coming towards the dormitory. I just wanted to be left alone! I decided to just pretend to be sleeping; I closed my eyes just as the door opened. "Cassi?" It was the voice of my roommate Ashley, soon another voice joined it, it was my best friend Calia.

"Cassi I know you're not sleeping so come on, talk to us." She knew me so well, sometimes I thought better than I knew myself. I sat up and turned to them. "Oh honey, come here." Calia ran over and hugged me, this was why she was my best friend: she was so motherly when she needed to be, but she was such a goof, and friendly most of the time. She always knew just what to do to cheer me up, and what mood worked with what situation. She was the greatest. Ashley was good too, just not _as_ good, but I loved them both.

"Come on Cassi, tell us what happened, all we saw was you punch him." Ashley was sitting on my bed now too.

"Congrats on that by the way, it was way overdue." Like I said, Calia always knew what to say. I let out a small laugh while Ashley made an indignant noise. It was no secret to us that she had a _huge_ crush on Sirius.

"Well," I was hesitant at first but once I started I just couldn't stop. "You know how I got hit by that bludger in the game against Ravenclaw last week?" Without waiting for an answer I kept going. "I've had loads of work to catch up on since then, so I decided to skip Lunch and keep working. Well, Aaron Samuels had a pile of homework too, so he decided to stay in the Library with me." I saw the slight looks of comprehension that began to dawn upon their faces. "We were working and talking when he asked me to go to Hogsmead with him this weekend. Just as friends." I had to add hurriedly for Calia had gotten a small smirk on her face. "I said yes obviously, and we kept working and talking. Well then Sirius shows up and gets mad at me because I was alone with Aaron- we weren't doing anything, and I told him that but he gets all protective again and starts yelling at me. Then he grabs all my stuff and drags me out of the Library. Once we got back to the common room we started talking- well yelling actually about how I was 'sneaking' around with him. Then most of Gryffindor came just as I asked him if he trusted me. He said he didn't, I was so upset I just punched him! I mean how how he say that to me? How can he not trust me?" I was quite out of breath but then I remembered something else. "Oh, and did I mention that he got me banned from the Library for _three weeks_ and with my work load I'm going to drown!" They both looked sympathetic, and right then I felt very grateful that I had them as friends.

"Don't worry everything going to be fine." Ashley said consolingly.

"So? Are you still going to Hogsmead with Aaron? Calia asked in an excited voice.

"Duhh! I'm not going to let Sirius get in the way of _that_. That's what he wants, so I'm going to do the exact opposite. And how long have I been waiting for Aaron Samuels to ask me to Hogsmead?" Calia let out a high-pitched shriek and started to bounce up and down. I laughed; sometimes she could be so girly! "Shut up Cal! We're only going as friends, so be quiet." I punched her lightly on the arm still smiling. "So, do you lovely ladies have plans for Saturday? I'm sure Aaron might have some friends that would like to go with you guys. As friends of course!" I laughed, and was starting to forget about Sirius and I had stopped crying long ago.

"Hmm, not that I know of, but I think we'll just stick together. And I bet you anything he said just as friends cause he was embarrassed." Ashley always looked on the best side of things, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.

"Maybe, but lets not hope too much." Despite my words I felt the happy bubble inside of my get, if it was possible, bigger.

"So, what are we going to wear?" Calia's question opened up thousands of possibilities.

"Good question, I'm feeling like a muggle for this trip, what do you guys think?" Ashley was a half-blood and spent her holidays in a muggle neighborhood, so she knew about dressing properly in muggle attire and had taught us when we had visited her. We all owned muggle clothing.

"Sure muggle sounds good." I had the feeling that we would be spending the rest of our free period picking out our outfits. Scratch that, I _knew_ we would be spending this time _and_ all night after dinner picking out our outfits.

xxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile in the dungeons Sirius was sitting next to James, who was working on their potion all by himself as Sirius was sulking. He touched his left eye; it felt puffy and he was sure it was black and blue. _Man, she can punch hard!_ "Padfoot, its your own fault you got punched, you know how much she cares about how you view her, and you kinda just said you thought she was a little girl who can't be left alone in the kitchen because she might go into the cookie-jar, even if she has a right to a cookie. You have always pushed your luck with boys when it come to her." He was about to say he didn't think that, but the more he thought about it James' weird analogy sort of made sense. _But she defiantly __doesn't__ deserve a cookie, why would she?_

"He's right you know, Cassi's a big girl now, she can take care of herself, and besides you've been flirting with girls since you arrived, and had already started your 'conquest' of all the girls in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff when she came for First Year. Ever since she started at Hogwarts she's been seeing you dating girl after girl, just tossing them aside after you got bored. Now, how do you think she feels when you do all of that, yet you don't let her talk to, walk with, sit by or have anything to do with boys. And when she does, you get angry with her, and blame her for 'sneaking around with boys' when all she is doing is being friendly. Sirius, just _try_ to put yourself in her position, don't you think you would punch you too?" Sirius had to sit for a second to try and figure out what Remus had said before he could reply.

"Moony, you know too much about girls." He said finally. Remus just shook his while James let out a snicker and Peter squeaked.

"Boys! Pay attention!" Slughorn's voice boomed across the classroom, and he stated to waddle over towards where the Marauders were sitting. When he reached them he checked their potions. Remus and Peter's potion was close enough to the light shade of blue they were supposed to achieve, but James and Sirius' was a dark shade of green. It clearly showed they were not paying attention. "Good job Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, no homework tonight. However, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, I would like an eight inch essay about the properties of the Draught of the Living Dead, due: next class." They started to protest but he interrupted them quickly. "Any complaints will result on two inches being added." They both glared at Slughorn's retreating back. Sirius was glowering, he wasn't sure if he was angry about the essay or about Cassi, and what his friends had told him, maybe a little of both. He just sat there the rest of the class, not saying anything while James took a sample of their potion up to Slughorn's desk. He was immersed in his own thoughts. _Was he really too protective of Cassi?_ No, he finally decided, this was better for her, not to get caught up in the nonsense of boys. He was doing something good for her. He came to that conclusion as the bell rang and he walked out of Potions with a smile on his face.

Authors Note: Reviews. They make me happy. Wouldn't you want me to be happy? So just click that little button and review!


	3. Chapter 3

I walked out of Potions laughing and talking with Calia and Ashley when I realized I left my Potions book in the classroom

I walked out of Potions a couple of days later, laughing and talking with Calia and Ashley when I realized I left my Potions book in the classroom. "Hey, uh, you guys head up I forgot my textbook in the dungeons I have to run back and get it."

"We'll come with you."

"No Ashley, I'm fine just keep going, I'll catch up with you."

"If your sure, meet us out by our tree." They kept walking while I turned and walked back down to the dungeons. I got my book and was heading back upstairs when someone grabbed me and put their hand over my mouth. I was about to fight back until I turned and saw who it was.

"Jesus Reg! You scared me half to death! Never sneak up on me, you know that!" he just smiled.

"But my way is funner." I playfully punched him.

"Regulus Black! I for one am appalled that you would frighten an innocent girl half to death just for pleasure!" I mock scolded him, trying to sound like our mother "Well, is there a reason why you decided to abduct me in the middle of a corridor?"

"Yeah, actually there is. I wanted to ask if you were all right." I was surprised by his question.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, our dearest older brother has a black eye, and the rumor is that you gave it to him because he beat up Aaron Samuels after finding you snogging him." _Snogging!! There was no snogging!_ I'll have to tell him, great, now he'll be biting my head off about Aaron too.

"Well, you know what they say about rumors." I decided to try and play it off like I didn't punch Sirius.

"That they always start with a little bit of truth." He wasn't fooled.

"Fine, but before you blow up, no, I wasn't snogging Aaron, we were simply talking in the library. We both had a lot of work so we skipped Lunch. We were _just_ talking, I swear!" he nodded, and seemed less angry, that's why I sometimes liked him better than Sirius, when I told him something he would believe me. "Well Sirius shows up, drags me out shouting about how I was sitting with Aaron alone and being his normal git self, well the Librarian wasn't happy about all the noise and banned us from the library for three weeks, when we got to our common room we were yelling at each other. Well, he was saying some BS about how I was 'sneaking' around with Aaron, and he didn't believe me when I told him nothing happened, all these Griffindors came and and I asked him a simple question 'Don't you trust me?' wanna know his answer? 'No' so I just punched him and ran." I looked up to see his face, to my surprise he was smiling. "What?" I asked, a mile now playing at my face too.

"Nothing, I'm just so proud, finally someone has deflated the head of 'His Highness.' You should start doing that more often." He was so weird, but I loved him so much.

"Let's go, people will begin to think Slughorn has abducted us." We started down the hall back up to sunlight and warmth. "How can you stand the cold down here?" he laughed.

"It goes with my heart. No just kidding, I guess we just get used to it. I've been living in it for a little over three years now so yeah." We walked in silence until we reached the Great Hall, I asked him where he was headed he said lake, so we both went outside. "Bye Reg, I'm headed over to 'our' tree." He laughed, I hugged him and walked away. As he walked towards his friends he called to me

"Bye Cassi." When I reached my friends Cali threw herself at me.

"Oh, Cassi! We thought you were dead! I was about to send out a search party before Sluggy could cut you up and brew you into a potion" I burst out laughing, and tried to contain myself enough to speak.

"Sorry, I met Reg and we were talking for a while."

"Oh, good so no homicidal Potions Master?" she asked trying to suppress her laughter.

"Well, I never said that he just hasn't killed me." After a slight pause I decided to add "yet." We were all laughing but I was able to become slightly serious to continue talking. "But, guys you know what I really think?" there were 'what's' and a 'huh?' from our other roommate that had clearly not been paying attention. "Maybe Slughorn was made fun of a lot because of his weight, and I mean I don't take Divination but I had this dream- well, it was actually a nightmare, you see he became sick of it so he started killing everyone, and I walked in on him eating Ashley. Maybe I was having a premonition." I was only able a straight face for a few seconds before we all burst out laughing, we fell on the ground and were rolling around when I heard a voice that made me sober up immediately and put a scowl on my face. "What do you want Sirius?"

"Well I was just wondering what was so funny I could result in all of you on the ground rolling around."

"Nothing." I answered quickly, but of course Ashley would tell him.

"Cassi had a dream Slughorn was eating me." She gasped out before continuing to laugh hysterically.

"Do I want to know." James and Remus had just walked up.

"No Remus, you probably don't." He just shrugged his shoulders. Sirius interrupted again.

"I couldn't help but notice, even though I was quite far off, that you exited the castle long after the period ended with a boy, you hugged him and walked away, care to enlighten me on who it was, and why you were so late getting out here?" Really? He was so stupid sometimes, but you know what? Why not have some fun? With one look at my eyes Cassi knew what I was about to do and whispered something to Ashley who smiled. I think Remus knew to cause he just shook his head.

"Well… I was so late out here because we were occupied in a broom cupboard on the second floor, sorry that I hugged him, you know, he kinda deserved that hug." I had to try so hard not to laugh at the look on Sirius' face.

"Was that Aaron Samuels?" he was _so_ mad. I should stop soon, but it's way too good, maybe just a little more.

"Oh God no Sirius, he's so two guys ago, you of anyone should know not to keep someone around after the first shag." He and James looked so angry I thought they were about to kill someone, it was too hilarious just to look at their faces, I couldn't hold back my laughter any longer. It came out and I needed the support of Remus to stay standing. In between laughs I was able to gasp out, "Oh- hahaha- your faces- hahaha- you- hahaha- you thought I was serious- hahaha- calm down guys it was just- hahaha- it was just Reg- hahaha you losers- hahaha- Sirius I can't believe you couldn't even recognize your own brother- hahaha." Sirius calmed down for a second but then got mad at me for being so evil.

"How could you?" Saying he was pissed would be an understatement he was _livid_.

"You deserved it for being such a prat, I mean I hug oneperson, and you go all super protective over me it really get annoying!" I was dead, I knew it as soon as I looked up at his face, I stopped laughing and ran. I was fast but not fast enough. I knew he would wait five seconds before giving chase, _one... two... three... four... five. Here he comes. _He caught me a little way away from the lake. He grabbed ma and threw me into the lake. The water wasn't too cold, but it was still cold enough to get me angry. Looking up through the water I could see James and Sirius laughing their heads off. I swam to the top and splashed them with the water. _I hope it gets into their eyes._ Then I pulled Sirius in. When he surfaced he splashed me and I stomped out of the lake. I ignored James' helping hand instead I just pushed past him with a scowl on my face. He stopped laughing.

"Cassi wait!" James tuned to go after her.

"Just leave me alone James."

"Come on Cassi, he was just joking, you cant blame him, think about what you just told us, we thought you were turning into Sirius," he tried adding a little humor but it did nothing. "Cassi," he said in and almost pleading voice. "You're our little baby sister, we couldn't let that happen." He was still following me, and he had said the wrong thing. I rounded on him.

"_Baby?_ James, I'm not that little anymore, I'm only younger than you guys by a year, _one year_ James, I'm allowed to date, I can do anything I want, Sirius isn't my father, and in case you haven't noticed my parents don't care if I date or whatever. They don't care what I do with guys." I could have sworn he muttered something along the lines of 'They don't care about anything you do as long as you join the Deatheaters.' under his breath but I just went on. "Anyways you both deserved it, you're always way too protective and it drives me crazy. There is one thing I'll tell you: I _will_ do whatever I want, whenever I want to. If I have to do it in secret, so be it, I will, and _you_ cant stop me. Neither can Sirius or Reg. Now leave me alone." I knew he would keep following me, so I just ducked into a girl's bathroom. I sank down to the ground, my knees pulled up against my chest. _I must not cry, I must not cry, I must not cry. It'll ruin my makeup_" I tried to give myself one reason not to cry, but as I reached up to push a stray piece of hair out of my face and behind my ear I realized I was already soaking, and felt my reasons not to cry gone. So I just lay my head on my knees and cried.

Just how long I stayed there I don't know, but no one came in, to which I was grateful for they would have tried to comfort me when all I need was to be alone. Finally I stood up and walked over to the sinks. I looked a mess, my hair went all over the place, my eyes were red and puffy and my makeup was running down my cheeks.

I bent down and splashed water over my face, making sure to get off all of the black that had recently decorated my cheeks. Then I dried it using one of the towels off to the side. I let my raven black hair out of my ponytail. Unlike my older brother's, when brushed it laid in a straight sheet across my back, or up in a pony tail sometime to get it out of my face. However, when I took care of it my hair was never as out of place as his. I combed it through with my fingers and put it back into a ponytail. I re-applied my makeup, and looked at myself. I looked much better, and with a final glance at the mirror I walked out.

It was dark and I knew I had to be careful not to run into any teachers. I took all the secret passages I knew, which, I thought grudgingly, I only knew because of the Marauders. When I finally arrived at the Fat Lady she was asleep. _Wow, I must have been in there a while._ I woke her up and went in after ignoring her questions on where I had been. At first glance the common room was empty, but when I looked closer I could see Sirius slumped in a chair by the fire, asleep. I felt my hear pull, but no. _He was the jerk, he dumped me in the lake he deserves to sleep in an uncomfortable chair all night._

I continued up the stairs to my dorm, and even though I was in still damp clothes I collapsed on my bed and was instantly asleep. I woke up again and it was 5:45am, I turned over and tried to get back to sleep, I had been having a great dream about my date with Aaron tomorrow. Sleep continued to evade me so I got up and changed into fresh robes. I looked at the clock again it was 6:03am. Breakfast wouldn't start for about another half hour, so I decided to go to the kitchen to get something to eat.

When I tickled the pear and opened the door little heads bobbed towards me. I heard an elf ask. 'What would Missus like to eat this morning?' Another squeak, very proudly I might add. 'I see Missus likes to rise early, we are willing to serve at any time of the day or night.' I chuckled slightly; these small little creatures were always so polite. I was ushered over to a small table and a tray of food soon came towards me. I picked quietly at my oatmeal and remembered the first time I had visited the kitchen. I was in first year and had forgotten about a Transfiguration essay. I skipped Lunch and Dinner and was really late finishing it. Sirius, James and Remus had come down to see me.

_A small girl with raven black hair that fell just past her shoulders sat at a table in a room of red and gold, she was scribbling feverishly, every once and a while glancing up at the textbook that lay in front of her piece of parchment. Three boys came down a staircase behind her. Two of them had black hair, while the last had sandy colored hair. The one with gray eyes started to move towards the girl and the other two followed. Just as they were approaching she laid down her quill, picked up the parchment and snapped the book shut. She let out a relived sigh as she put the essay, quill and ink bottle at her feet. She turned around to come face to face with the boy with grey eyes. "You know Cassi, you haven't eaten since breakfast, and I'm willing to bet that you're pretty hungry." _

"_I am Sirius but, like you said I missed Dinner and it's long over so I guess I'll just have to wait until breakfast tomorrow." She looked forlorn, but brightened suddenly. "But it's ok, 'cause I finally got that essay done, and from now on I'm never going to forget about an assignment again." The boys laughed at how naïve she was, but overlooked it._

"_Run up and put you bag in you dorm, then come down here." She nodded and ran off to a staircase a little ways away from the one the boys had come down. When she got back they ushered her out the door and along corridors until they finally came to a picture of some fruit in a bowl. "James if you'll do the honors." Sirius said, and the other boy with black hair reached out and tickled the pair, it squirmed, and then turned into a handle that the boy named James reached out and turned. The door opened to reveal… the girl started to lean forward to see what was inside but she was met with blackness. Sirius had laid his hands over his sister's eyes. "Until we're inside completely." And he picked her up by her hands while James got her feet and they carried her inside while the other boy closed the door, and she was extremely glad she had changed our of her Hogwarts skirt._

_When her eyes were finally uncovered she looked around to see an enormous, high-ceilinged room with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fire-place at the other end. They went to sit at the same table where she was sitting now, and Sirius and James ordered tons of sweets from the house-elves, who brought them with great smiles upon their faces. Cassi just looked around in wonder, while absentmindedly eating whatever she ended up picking up. "It's great isn't it?" The boy with the sandy colored hair asked. For the first time since her eyes had been uncovered Cassi took her attention off the room._

"_Yeah, Sirius told me your name but I can't seem to remember it now." He chuckled slightly but answered her all the same._

"_It's Remus, Remus Lupin." She thanked him and went back to staring around the kitchen and the others talked about something that she hadn't paid attention to until Remus suggested they head back to the common room. She lay in her bed that night loving everything about Hogwarts. _

My memories of my first years of Hogwarts were interrupted as the door opened and someone walked in. "Oh, sorry." I turned around to see someone who I had only seen from a distance, although I did know he was in Slytherin, so I slid a hand onto my wand and held onto it. He went to leave, but I felt that it would be wrong for him to have to go.

"No, don't go, it's fine, I was just leaving anyways." He looked taken aback at my offer and frowned slightly.

"What? No comments about my hair, or any 'Snivilus' jokes?" I was surprised by this.

"Why would I do that? All I know about you is that you are in Slytherin… and, by the looks of it you're in fifth year?"

"Yeah, both of those are right, but I thought as Black's little sister you would be full of hate for Slytherins, especially me." I did not ask him how he knew who I was, a lot of people knew me- or at least they knew me as Sirius' sister. But I did wonder about why I would hate him.

"Well, since you seem to know so much about me you should also know that my twin is Regulus, and that he is a Slytherin fourth year, so that's why I don't hate Slytherins, even though Sirius does, and well… now that I think about it I have heard him and James talking about pranking a 'Snivilus' but honestly I don't know you, and I wont judge someone before I get to know them personally, and you seem like a pretty decent guy to me." He was surprised by my answer, and how I didn't hate him. But what he asked next threw me off guard.

"You wanna… go for a walk?" I quickly ran through the possibilities in my head. He could want to take me somewhere then hex me to hold over Sirius' head, or, he could just want to walk to get to know me better. So I agreed.

"Sure, where to?" When he just shrugged his shoulders I decided to suggest a few places. "We could walk around the halls, or we could go outside to the lake, I know I relaxing spot about half way around we could go to talk." He agreed and we started walking out to the grounds. I felt oddly relaxed around him and I liked the way it felt.

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A/N: The description of the kitchens can be found in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on page 377


	4. Chapter 4

Authors Note: I am incredibly sorry for how long it took me to update, I've just been super swamped with schoolwork and what-not. Hopefully I'll be able to get my chapters up faster. Again Sorry and I hope you enjoy! =] P.S This chapter is going out to lifeISaDRAG for getting me motivated enough to finish this chapter.

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**Sirius' POV**

I woke up and turned over, it was Friday and tomorrow was the Hogsmead trip. That thought was enough to get me to sit up. When I pulled the curtains back sun was shining through the windows. I got out of bed and looked over towards James' bed. He was still asleep. I looked at my clock. 7:30, too early, but we had to get up. I grabbed my pillow and threw it at James, my aim was rewarded with a faint 'Ow' then "Padfoot!" The curtains were pulled back and James appeared, his eyes lidded with sleep.

"Good Morning James! Time to get up!" he hated it when I was falsely cheery.

"Yes mother." He muttered.

"Are you awake or do I have to find something harder than a pillow?"

"Don't you dare I'm awake."

"Better stay that way, I mean, we don't want the lovely Ms. Evans to think Jamsie is lazy now do we?" he sat right up, jumped out of bed and started getting ready. Evans always got James moving, he even looked over the fact that I used one of his least favorite nicknames. The worst was 'Jamsiepoo' Cassi came up with it. Thinking of Cassi, I wonder if she's forgiven me yet, she probably has, whatever. Shower-time!!! "Now that your up I can take a shower, I'll leave it to you to wake Wormy up. Remus is already up and probably reading in the common room like always." He nodded and I left to take a nice warm shower, and rejuvenate my hair.

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When we came down to the Great Hall we sat down and started eating. Within a few minutes Calia and Ashley walked up to me. "I hope your happy Sirius, Cassi never came back last night and no one has seen her since she left the lake." I felt dread wash over me. _Please Cassi, I hope you didn't do anything stupid!_

"Maybe she just fell asleep in the girls bathroom, that's the last place I saw her. I'm sure she's fine Sirius, she just needed to calm down, she'll turn up sooner or later." I nodded and tried to convince myself that what James said was true, but still felt cold with fear. Then a thought came to me.

"The map!" I took off running towards our dorm where the Marauders Map was in my trunk. It would show where she was, and then I would know she was safe.

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**Cassi's POV**

I sat with my back against a tree just looking out at the water, it was so calm and peaceful it helped me think. Severus (I found out his real name) had left a couple of minutes ago, he had to get to class, he would've skived with me but I told him I would be fine and that I thought he just wanted an excuse not to learn something fun and exciting (note sarcasm) at this he just laughed. He was really nice to be around, and I found out that he was also friends with Lily Evans, a girl in Gryffindor; she was a fifth year and the love of James' life. Hahaha, she hated him, poor Jamsiepoo. The Marauders hated Severus for no reason and were completely treacherous to him, it disgusted me what they did. I would have to give them a good talking to. Although he was friends with some Slytherins who I knew were bad news, he was an overall great person if you got to know him. Very smart, witty, compassionate, a great listener, I just know were going to become really great friends, I mean he listened to all my problems for an hour and a half and consoled me, that's amazing for someone who just met me.

He's going to bring me some lunch, and then sit and talk some more during all his free periods today, I can't wait, I wonder what I should do until he comes, I could sleep, or once everyone's in class I could get some school work to finish and then sleep. Yeah, I think I'll do that, but I still have to sit until breakfast is over and everyone's in class. Hmm, I have an essay for Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms. I'll do the Charms first, and then see where I go from the- Wait, who's coming?

I grab my wand and feign sleep, but look through my lashes. Trees rustle and who comes out of them but… Sirius. _Great, him again, doesn't he get I don't want to be near him? There's a perfectly good mood gone because of him._ I open my eyes and look at him. "What do you want?" Acid easily coats my words.

"I wanted to know where you were."

"Well you found me, now go away." _Will he not leave me in peace?_

"Are you hungry?"

"No, I already ate, go away!"

"Don't you have classes to go to?"

"So, its not like you've never skipped a day in your life, and seeing as you wont leave I guess I will." I turned to leave but he grabbed my wrist. "Let go of me." I said it in a slow and deadly voice.

"No."

"Let go of me, or you'll regret it." _Do __not__ test me right now._

"No"

"Fine." I turned around and blasted him into the lake. When he resurfaced I smiled sweetly and waved. "Bye!" then I walked off. Hopefully he won't come looking for me there when I'm with Severus. That would be awkward seeing as they hated each other.

I walked through the trees and finally found the one I was looking for. It was an ancient oak and I had discovered it with Regulus in Second year. I climbed up into the topmost branches and stopped. The breeze calmed me, and let me think. I thought of Sirius, I thought of Severus, and I thought of secrets and how many I had. I felt guilty knowing what I would have to keep from Severus. I sighed. Why did I always think about _that_ whenever I made a new friend, ever since that one day so long ago… _ok stop!_ I have to get control of myself, but I couldn't help but raise the sleeve on my left arm and see the scars there. I remembered when I first started.

_ I was ten, Sirius had come home for the holidays, and I know he didn't want to, but Mom made him. He had been teasing me, and Regulus wasn't there. He was using magic and making things I wanted float out of my reach. I was crying, he told me I was a crybaby, and to shut up. I didn't, then he pointed his wand at a vase behind me, he made it fly up into the air, and then let it fall on my head. The glass broke and I was fell on the floor crying he just yelled at me again to shut up then left. I ran out into the snow and went to my friend's house. She wasn't there but her older sister was, she let me in and asked me what was wrong. "Sirius was teasing me and he made a vase fall on me." I was still crying but it had subsided. Now I was angry. "Its not fair! He can use magic against me and I don't have a wand so there's nothing I can do about it." She looked at me in a weird way then told me to follow her. We went into her bedroom and she shut the door. _(A/N: Now I'm guessing what you're thinking, and No, she doesn't make her a Deatheater, and she doesn't abuse her or anything.) _Then she went over to a drawer and pulled out something silver. She came over to me and I saw she was holding a razor._

"_I know what you mean, but there is something yo cam do about it, look." She pulled up her sleeve and I could see a series of scars there. They were all thin lines, some were fading, other you could see clearly, but one was still fresh. It had scabbed over but hadn't healed completely yet. "When you get really frustrated or mad just take a razor like this," she held the one in her hand up. "And you put it on your skin, then you push down and pull it across." When she said that she demonstrated, and now her arm was beaded with blood. "Just make sure you don't press too hard. It helps you feel better, do you want to try?" I was angry and I wanted to feel better so I said yes. She went back to the same drawer and came back, she had a razor in her hand, but this one had paper across the blade, she pulled it off and gave the razor to me. "This one's new, you can have it." Then she helped me cut myself for the first time. It did help so I thanked her, put the razor in my pocket and went home. Ever since then when it became too much I could always trust in my little razor._

The wind blew my hair around my head like a halo. I pulled a razor out of my pocket, I had gotten better, but I still needed a little stress-relief sometimes. I pulled it across my skin, but blood would no longer surface, not for three years now, but it still felt good to just let out my anger. One thing I've realized is that I have so many secrets, with my cutting situation and… my other _huge_ secret.

_Ahh man, life just sucks when you have so many problems…_

"Cassi? You up there?"

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Authors Note: My pathetic attempt at a mini-cliffhanger. What is her secret? Thats for me to know, and you to find out. Man I feel evil...

I hope that I showed Sirius in a good way, I know he was really mean when they were kids but please forgive me. Also Cassi is not emo, she just has different ways of dealing with stress... I hope that you liked this chapter. Review please? Even if you hated it just click the little review button. =]


	5. Chapter 5

I quickly pulled my left sleeve up, and peered down through the branches and saw Regulus climbing up to join me. He always knew where to find me. "Yeah. I'm up here." He kept climbing and when he finally reached me he was smiling.

"I heard you blasted Sirius into the lake." He said with a smirk. I chuckled

"Yeah, he was just so annoying, and he wouldn't leave me alone. We normally get on really well but now he's just being a jerk." The sympathy in Regulus's eyes was neither fake, nor forced.

"He'll get over it, he's just used to being in control. Give him some time, he'll come around." I felt a rush of gratitude towards him, and I was, yet again, glad he was my brother. Suddenly I felt the urge to tell him about Severus.

"Hey Reg?"

"Yeah Cassi?"

"Well, do you know any Fifth year Slytherin's?"

"I know a couple, why?"

"Because, I recently met one, his name is Severus Snape and he's really nice. He's friends with Lily, and I ran into him this morning, we started talking and he listened to all my ranting about Sirius. He was so nice and comforting, I just know we're going to become great friends." I finished kinda lamely.

"But?" Of course, being my twin brother he knew when something was up.

"But I feel guilty, every time I make a new friend I feel guilty not telling them about- well _it_. Like, I know I can't but, I just really want to be completely honest but I cant." It felt good to get something off my chest. He looked at me with now sad eyes.

"Cassi, your own _mother_ doesn't know, me and Sirius are the only ones- well, and Dumbledore of course but- you know you can't tell people so don't dwell on it. It'll be better, don't worry." I sighed, this was exactly the kind of answer I had expected but it still hurt. I knew why we couldn't tell Mother, she would freak and kick me out of the house.

"I guess your right. Let's get down." He nodded his agreement and we started to descend.

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I was in the clearing again, my back against a tree and I was just starting my Potions essay. I heard approaching footsteps and looked up to see Severus. I smiled and pushed my books away so there was a space next to me for him to sit down. "What are you working on?" he asked me

"My Potions essay, I just don't get this subject." I gave a frustrated sigh.

"Here, let me help, it's my best subject." We sat there together and finished my essay. Then we talked about all different types of things, classes, spells, and what ever other things came up. Finally I decided to head back up to the castle. He went ahead of me so it would not seem like we were together.

I walked back up to the castle thinking of our conversations when I heard James and Sirius. "Hey look, lets have some fun." I figured they were just tormenting another poor kid so I decided to put an end to it. When I turned the corner I saw Sirius, James, Peter and Remus standing around a student. James and Sirius had their wands out and someone was hanging in the air.

"Hey! Who are you terrorizing now? Stop it, and put them down." They moved aside and I got a look at who was being suspended upside-down- it was Severus!

"We were just-"

"JAMES! PUT HIM DOWN. NOW!" I practically yelled.

"But Cassi, its Snivilus, the greasy Slytherin!" he tried to protest

"I DON'T CARE, PUT HIM DOWN!" James made a movement with his arm and I knew he was going to drop Severus so I added "Gently." He huffed but lowered Severus to the ground. He was a crumpled heap on the ground but he looked up at me smirking.

"Come on Cassi, let's go." Sirius was always so demanding.

"Sure Sirius, I'm coming." As I walked away I threw Severus a wink.

"Cassi, why did you have to ruin our fun?"

"James, if you want to prank a bunch of people, fine, I'll even help. But if you are going to target one particular student, I will do anything in my power to stop you."

"But, it was _Snivilus_ Cassi, the ultimate greasy Slytherin. Couldn't you have let it slide?"

"No, just go prank a teacher. Anyways I've got to go, see you later James, Remus." I pointedly ignored Sirius, I was still mad at him.

I walked away, but when I was sure they had moved away I doubled back and went to find Severus. I saw him walking up ahead, "Hey you!" I called and he turned around, slightly alarmed, but when he saw it was me he relaxed.

"Hey. Thanks for back there."

"No problem, I can get them to do anything, well pretty much anything." We started walking together down the hall. Then we heard footsteps, _uh-oh,_ I looked at Severus and we decided in a moment what we had to do. I stepped away from him and we turned to face each other and started yelling. "Yeah, well just stay away from me, you slimy git!" I saw the hurt in Severus' eyes and I silently apologized for my harsh words, he seemed to see the message in my eyes because he nodded and then replied.

"I would never want to be close to _you_ Black, you're almost as bad as your eldest brother."

"Well at least I know about proper hygiene, at least I-"

"Sev?" a new voice interrupted my rant and I turned around to see Lily Evans, then I looked over at Severus, and knew it would be ok to let her know we were friends.

"Oh, Hi Lily, good it's just you, I thought it might be my brother and his friends." She looked quite confused at my change of attitude. "Oh yeah, we're friends now, I met him this morning and we just clicked. We had to put on that little act because we don't want people to know yet, but I believe you're trustworthy." She still looked slightly taken aback.

"Oh ok, um- yeah, so Sev, I was wondering if we're still studying tomorrow night."

"Oh yeah, now, would you mind if Cassi joined us?"

"Of course not, if she's ok with you then I'm pretty sure we'll get along." I laughed and soon they both joined in.

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I woke up the next morning and felt happy, at first I didn't realize why, but then I remembered the Hogsmead trip and that I was going with Aaron. I jumped out of bed, showered and tried to find something to wear. Finally I found a pair of jeans and a cute shirt. It was blue and fit just right. Over it I had a white jacket with patches all over it. I put on some eye makeup and lip-gloss. When Calia and Ashley woke up I was all ready and about to walk out the door. "Ooh, someone's looking good, is it for your date with Aaron?"

"Maybe." I said evasively, "See you guys around." I said as I walked out.

"Good luck!" They called after me.

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I met Aaron in the Three Broomsticks and we had Butter beers and just talked and laughed. Then I heard the bell of the door and I looked up to see James, Remus, Sirius and Peter entering the pub. "Oh-no." I said, Aaron looked over at me questioningly but when I motioned with my head towards the door and he saw who was there his face fell. I ducked underneath the table and pulled Aaron down with me, when the others passed our table, I motioned to him and we crawled out and then stood up and left through the door. Once we were outside we burst put laughing, who knew we would be crawling around on the floor of the Three Broomsticks to escape my brother. Still laughing I said. "Lets go up to the Shrieking Shack." He nodded and we started making our way towards the hill it was located on.

When we reached it we stood there just looking then her turned to me. "You know, this is really nice, I'm glad you agreed to come with me." I smiled at him.

"I'm glad I came." And then suddenly we were kissing, right there next to the Shack. My back was against the fence, my hands around his neck.

"Oi! Break it up you two!" Aaron and I broke apart to face Sirius and James, I vaguely wondered where Remus and Peter were, but I was mostly angry.

"What do you want now Sirius?" I tried to remain calm.

"I want to be able to walk around Hogsmead with out seeing my little sister snogging someone." This made me really mad.

"Well at least I have the common curtsey to snog in a secluded area, and not at the dinner table, unlike _you_!" I took a step forward and had my hand on my wand in my pocket.

"Well I'm-"

"What Sirius? You're older? You've been doing it for years. You're a guy? You don't have to be male to snog someone. There is no reason that you can snog someone and I can't. You're being unreasonable," I turned away from him and grabbed Aarons arm, "Let's go Aaron."

We returned to the castle in silence, but when we came into the common room I turned to him, "Thank you for such a good time, I'm sorry my prat of a brother had to ruin it."

"No problem Cassi." I turned to go up the girls staircase when he called my name. "Hey Cassi!' I turned around.

"Yeah?" He kissed me one more time.

"Will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" I smiled,

"Oh course, see you later Aaron." With that I walked up the staircase to my dormitory. When I got there I fell on my bead and let out a very girly squeal.

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Authors Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I know it's shorter than most but at least it's a chapter. I had time to write this over the holidays, and during my eight hour car trips to and from my Aunt's house. I'm already working on the next chapter and hope to get it out to you soon.


	6. Chapter 6

In the following weeks I ignored Sirius completely. My time was balanced between classes, studying with Severus and Lily, spending time with Aaron and spending time with Calia and Ashley. I was learning lots of advanced spells with Sev and Lily, and I always looked forward to our meetings. We had another study session tonight. I was sitting in the common room reading a book when Lily came up to me, "I'm going to have to go to a Prefects meeting tonight, so it's going to be just you two ok?"

"Yeah, sure." I was really starting to like Lily, and I understood why James was so obsessed with her. She turned to walk away, "Hey Lily"

"Yeah?" She said as she turned back to face me.

"I wanna say Thank You, for being so nice to me, and accepting me even if my brother's a prat." I smiled at her, but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but think, _someone else to lie to._ But I realized, I wasn't actually lying, I was just not telling them something about myself. She smiled back.

"No problem, you're a really nice person. What our family is like does not say who we are." Then she walked away leaving me in thought. Somehow I thought that she wasn't just talking about Sirius, but also about the rest of my family, like my parents.

That night as I was going to an unused classroom to meet with Sev I kept thinking, trying to convince myself that I didn't need to tell anyone my secret. But another part of me thought that I should tell him tonight.

When I reached the room I was still distracted by my thoughts. I put them away to think about later as we started practicing spells. Then right in the middle of casting a Reducto curse something just popped into my mind. I'm going to tell him tonight.

**Sirius' POV**

I saw Cassi leave the common room a minute ago and had an urge to follow her, but I know James would yell at me. Anyways she's probably just going to meet her _boyfriend._

I can't believe Cassi is dating that Aaron kid. She's way too good for him. A voice broke into my thoughts. I was sitting in the common room with James and Peter; Remus had prefect duty with Lily. (James was upset). "Wha- What?" They just sniggered.

He followed my line of vision to the Portrait Hole where I was still looking at, even though is was long after Cassi had gone out of it. James seemed to know what I was thinking about. "Padfoot, mate you seriu- really need to start paying attention. It's ok that Cassi has a boyfriend." I chuckled because he almost used the tabooed word. No one could use the word 'serious' around me or any of the other Marauders without someone making a joke about it.

"But Prongs, she's little-"

"Sirius, when you where her age, you were no longer a virgin." I smiled at the thought, but James was continuing. "So, you really have no right to tell her she can't date or snog, or… anything." I just huffed and stared at the fire. "But, going back to what I was saying before all of this. We should spend this time doing research on the-" he stopped, looked around to see if anyone near use was listening, and continued in a whisper. "-the transformations. The full moon is coming up and wouldn't it be a great surprise for Moony if we figured out how to do it and joined him?" This was a good idea so I stopped sulking and joined in the conversation.

"Yeah, we're almost there, it could just take a little bit and we can finish it. I have the research upstairs, I'll go get it then we can continue until we get the break through." I rushed upstairs and got all the books and pieces of parchment from under my bed and rushed back downstairs with it all clutched in my hands.

With furtive glances around the common room we left and went to an unused classroom. James and I had done most of the work, but that's ok because Peter's not very smart. Poor lad, sometime I wonder why he's our friend, and then I feel bad and banish all thoughts like that from my brain. But much like myself, my thoughts never follow the rules.

After hours of work we finally achieved it. We had been so close all it took was a little bit more and it was done. I could turn into a dog, big, shaggy and black, (Kinda ironic huh?) James was a beautiful stag, and Peter was a rat. Slightly less magnificent then ours but we needed someone to touch the knot. I can't wait to, one, try out my new form, and two, meet Remus in the Shrieking Shack.

We decided to head back, and James checked the map for any teachers that may be roaming the halls. There were no teachers but I did see two dots on the Seventh Corrider labeled _Severus Snape _and _Cassiopeia Black. _ Oh that girl is in so much trouble when I get my hands on her, but she would look beautiful compared to what Snivilus would look like.

James must have seen the murderous look I'm sure was on my face because he grabbed my arm and tried to tell me to calm down. I concentrated on my dog form and then I had transformed. I ran, still getting used to having four legs, to the Sixth Corrider and then changed back into the drop dead gorgeous boy that I normally looked like and started walking towards where I was sure I would run into them.

**Cassi's POV**

I was walking Severus down to the Great Hall before I returned to Gryfindor Tower. I stopped him in the middle of a corridor on the seventh floor. He looked at me questioningly. "Sev wait." _I have to do this. He's a good guy. He'll understand._ "I have to tell you something. But please promise me that you won't hate me after you find out."

"Yeah, sure Cassi, just tell me." He was confused but concerned. _Ok it's now or never._

"Severus, I'm a-"

"Cassiopeia Elladora Black!" _Oh no, Sirius! _"Just _what_ do you think you're doing with this-" he threw Severus a dirty look. "Slytherin Scum?"

"Sirius, what is your problem? Do you even know Severus? Have you ever had an intelligent conversation with him? You're judging him before you even know him." I was shouting now.

"Because he's a Slytherin, he can't be anything but evil." He was shouting back. Man, he knows just how to piss me off.

"Are you saying all Slytherins are evil? Is Regulus, your own _brother_ evil?"

"If he sides with the likes of our parents then yes, he is evil." I just looked at him and then replied in a calm, cool voice.

"You know what Sirius, if you're judging people due to a generalization, then you're just as bad as they are. Heck, you might even be worse." With that I walked away. I decided to throw another comment over my shoulder. "Oh, and congratulations, you just lost the only other person in your family that cared." I kept walking and Severus walked a little behind me. When we reached the Great Hall he turned to me.

"Cassi, I'm sorry that I cause that huge fight between you and Sirius, I mean you guys-"

"Don't worry Sev, this has been coming for a long time. This just made me realize how much of a hypocrite he is. It's fine though, because I have you, and I have Reg. I know he'll take care of me, you both will." Then I hugged Severus and walked back up towards my dormitory.

I walked into the common room and started towards the girl's staircase. I knew he was sitting in the armchair but I decided to play along. Just as I knew he would, he came up behind me and grabbed my arm.

"Cassi, what happened." I replied without turning around.

"James, I don't want to talk about it." He still didn't let go.

"No Cassi, I'm his best friend I deserve to know what happened." I turned around.

"Then why don't you get you _best friend_ to tell you." Then I pulled my arm out of his grasp with incredible strength and proceeded towards my stairs. As I was climbing I could have sworn I heard James say "You know he loves you right." But I just kept walking.

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Authors Note: Ok, I know that the Marauders Map was not created until a while after James, Sirius and Peter join Remus every month. Also, Cassi's middle name comes from her great-great-grandmother.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Okay, I know this is a violation of my "No chapter can be less than 1,000 words." rule, but I wanted to get it up for Christmas. So enjoy and know another one is following shortly. Merry Christmas and Happy (_insert other holidays here_) =]

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I didn't get very much sleep that night. Sirius' head kept floating into my dreams with his voice, and all of the accusing words.

"_Slytherin scum." "Because he's a Slytherin, he can't be anything but evil." _

I tossed and turned in my bed trying to get away from his accusing voice. _"...anything but evil, anything but evil, anything but evil…" _

Finally I gave up trying to sleep and went down to the common room. I sat in one of the chairs by the fire and stared into the embers. I watched as they danced, rushing around the fire-pit, chasing each other. I must have dosed off because they next thing I remember the light of pre-dawn was shinning through the windows and my neck was aching.

I went up to my room and took my things in to take a shower. The hot water rushed down on my back and neck. I love the shower. It is so relaxing, just the place to think and be by yourself. I thought about Sirius. _How can he be so narrow-minded? _I asked myself for the tenth time. _How can he not realize that being in Slytherin does not mean being evil. _I thought about the traits of Slytherin. Cunning, ambition, cleverness, determination. The Sorting hat had considered placing me in Slytherin, but had opted for Gryffindor instead. Now I wonder if it had made the wrong decision. Should I be in the same house as my twin? I realized the water was starting to get cold so I decided to get out.

I wrapped my hair in a towel and got on my uniform. Trying to be quite so as not to wake the others I put it on and started to get ready. I took my hair out and thought about how I was going to wear it. I decided on my usual style. Mostly straight, but wavy around my face. I fixed it and then checked it over in the mirror. I ran a brush through my hair one last time before getting my books for the day and putting them in my bag. I scrawled a quick note for Calia and Ashley who were still sleeping. I glanced at the clock. It was 7:04. I decided to go down to breakfast.

There were already a few people there, but the major rush had yet to come. I decided to have pancakes today to spruce up my mood. I poured on maple syrup and started to eat. I saw Severus enter the hall and he gave me a smile. I smiled back, and continued eating.

When Lily came in I figured I would have to tell her what happened last night so I motioned for her to come sit by me. "Lily I need to talk to you but not right here. Tell me when you're done." She seemed to realize it was important because she finished relatively fast. "Okay, lets go onto the grounds." She got up and we made or way out of the hall. As we were leaving Sirius, James, Remus and Peter were coming in. I made no sign that I recognized them. Sirius just stared on and went into the hall. James sent a sad look in my direction, Remus looked at us quizzically, but said nothing. And Peter, being an idiot, didn't notice anything. When we had passed them Lily turned to me.

"From what just happened I'm guessing something happened between you and Sirius." I nodded my head but pulled her on until we had reached the tree my friends and I had basically claimed as our own.

"So last night after the meeting with Sev I was walking him back to the entrance hall. While we were walking and Sirius found us." I continued to tell her what happened, leaving out what I had been about to tell Severus. She sympathized completely with me, even though I'm almost positive she didn't understand the entire situation.

We were heading back inside when the first bell rang. I said 'Goodbye' to Lily and made my way to class.

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Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, I know, it's really short, but at least it's something. Review. =]


	8. Chapter 8

I met up with Calia and Ashley on our way to the first class of the day. I decided to tell them that Sirius and I had gotten into a huge fight, not going into too much detail about the whole Slytherin dilemma making it seem like the Slytherin was Reg and not Severus.

When I was finally making my way to the last lesson of the day, Defense against the Dark Arts, I gave a sigh of relief that the day would soon be over. Everyone shuffled inside when the door was opened by our Defense Professor. He was new this year, his name was Professor Wellborn. He was alright so far.

"Everybody find your seats. Today we will be learning about different magical creatures, namely the werewolf and the vampire." I felt myself stiffen, but I found a seat between Calia and Ashley. We shared this class with the Slytherins and I looked over at Reg, he was looking at me with a worried expression. I gave him a look that clearly said _Stop staring, people will start to suspect something._ He rolled his eyes and looked away.

"We will start with the werewolf, werewolves are also known as lycanthropes. A werewolf is a human who, upon the rising of the full moon, turns into a fearsome near-wolf. Werewolves can be distinguished from regular wolves by several small distinguishing characteristics, such as the pupils of the eyes, snout shape, and tufted tail. At all other times, they appear as normal humans, though will often seem to be ill as the full moon approaches. This condition is caused by infection with lycanthropy, usually occuring when a human is bitten by a transformed werewolf. There is no known cure.

On every full moon, a werewolf will go through an incredibly painful transformation from a human into a wolf-like creature. They lose the ability to think in a human way, becoming highly aggressive towards humans, even those they are close to. Without any humans nearby to attack, or other animals to occupy it, the werewolf will attack itself out of frustration. However, werewolfs are only a danger to humans, and will not harm other animals.

Werewolves are generally regarded with fear and disgust by wizarding society. It is not uncommon for persons known to be werewolves to be shunned by society and discriminated against within the wizarding world It is very difficult for a werewolf to get a job in the wizarding community.

The Ministry of Magic attempts to regulate werewolves. By 1637, there was a Werewolf Code of Conduct, and according to Newt Scamander, werewolves have been shunted between the Beast and Being divisions of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for years. At one point, the Werewolf Registry and Werewolf Capture Unit were both in the Beast Division, while at the same time the office for Werewolf Support Services was in the Being Division."

He looked up from the slideshow of werewolf images, and drawings of monstrus beasts holding victims in their jaws and arms that he had been showing us and looked around the room. Looking at the images made me queasy and I felt sorry for Remus now that I knew more about what he was going through. I knew that Remus was a werewolf, but no one knew that I knew. I could just tell. I don't care, because I sorta know what he's going through, at least he can tell his friends, that was more than I could do.

Proferssor Wellborn's voice inturrupted my thoughts. "Now, let's continue on to Vampires. A Vampire is a magical being that is known for biting people on the neck and sucking their blood, however they have no flowwing blood inside their bodies. As a result they are usually pale and have sharp teeth for puncturing the neck. There is a common misconseption that Vampires have an aversion to garlic, and can be kept at bay by its presence, this, however is untrue.

Vampires have incredibly speed and strength, however unless they have training these assets can only be utilized when feeling intense emotions such as anger, happiness, sadness, or love. Vampires also have the ability to shapeshift. They mostly 'shift' into animals of the night, which is where the bat foklore comes into being. 'Shifting' can take place without training, although they need to have extreme willpower to do so. Also, it is very draining if the vampire were to remain in said shape for an exstensive period of time.

Vampires suffer from 'bloodlust' which means as the name suggests to lust for blood. Some vampires can fight the urges, but it is extremely dificult. However any known vampires are known because they were/are feared for their reputation as bloodthirsty beasts. One such vampire was Count Vlad Drakul (born 1390) who was the vampire that inspired the Muggle author Bram Stoker to create his famous character Count Dracula. Drakul had a son, Vlad the Impaler, who presumably shared his father's notorious reputation.

Vampires are classed as Beings by the Ministry of Magic, a fact that led both the Centaurs and Merpeople to decline the same status since they did not wish to be associated with them. They are not considered to be Wizards, and the treatment of Vampires is laid down in the Ministry's _Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans._"

The slideshow had switched from pictures of werewolves to pictures of vampire victims, and the bite marks as well as a few drawaings, one in particular was of a vampire leaning over a corpse with blood dripping down it's chip and fangs exposed. It made me sick, and I had to put my head down on my arms to gain control of myself. The class broke into chatter, and Professor Wellborn quickly silenced them and gave us our homework assignment. An eight inch essay on either the werewolf or the vampire, and the difference between the fokelore and reality surrounding your chosen creature. The bell rang and he cried out. "Due in a week!" Everyone just filed out. Once Calia Ashley and I had left the room we were considering wher eto go whe Reg came up and asked for a word. "You guys go on to the common room, I'll meet you up there, I have to talk to Regulus." The thought it had to do wwith the fight I had had with Sirius, so they just nodded and turned away. "Not here." I mutrered to him, then I pulled his sleeve until we reached a secret passage way which I pulled him into.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, concern very evident in his voice.

"Yes, I'm fine, that was just, really unexspected." I sighed. "Listen, Reg, Sirius and I had another fight." He was going to find out one way or another so I figuered I might as well tell him now. He looked like he was going to inturrupt so I started again quickly before he could. "Not just a normal fight either, a huge one." Then I told him the full version of what had happened, including what I was going to tell Severus. He comforted me as best he could, and I just cried all the tears I had been trying to hold in. It felt good to just let it all out. Finally I had composed myself enough to fix my makeup and return to my Common room after giving Regulus one last hug.

When I get there the Marauders were laughing and joking as usual, glad to know that Sirius doesn't care about what happened between us. One quick glance around the common tells me that the girls are in the dorm room. I walk past Sirius, James and Remus as though they weren't even there. James called my name but I just walked up the stairs to join Calia and Ashley.

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Author's Note: _What_ was she going to tell Snape? Guess you'll have to wait to find out. I'm evil, I know. =] Okay, sorry if this chapter is super crappy, but I am writing at four in the morning, so, don't blame me... well you could blame me for staying up this late to write but oh well. Also the information on werewolves was found at: .com/wiki/Werewolf some of the information about vampires was from: .com/wiki/Vampire the rest of the Vampire information came from my head! =] Reviews make me happy! *hint hint* *wink wink* *cough*review*cough*


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Just to clear things up a little, it's in Cassi's POV unless it's in itailics, then it is just third person. Also, sorry it took so long to update, I just have been super busy since I got back to school, so this has been the first chance I got to write. Enjoy! =]

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They were both sitting on Calia's bed when I entered. I walked over and sat down. They both looked at me with sympathy on their faces, then Calia wordlessly reached out and brought me into a hug, Ashley soon joined in, and they rocked me in a soothing motion like I was a baby. I felt the tears coming again and let them fall over the brim of my eyes.

We sat there for what seemed like hours until I had no more tears to shed and I grew tired. Crying takes a lot out of you. I think I fell asleep in their arms because the next thing I remembered was the door opening and Ashley's voice saying "We'll be in the common room doing homework if you feel up to it." I just went back to sleep, _I was so tired_.

When I woke up again it was dark. I was still alone, so I figured everyone else had to be in the common room still. I went into the bathroom and cleaned up before grabbing my school bag and heading downstairs.

They were sitting at a table close to the fire. I noticed it was semi-close to the Marauders table but I guess I couldn't ask Calia and Ashley to completely alienate themselves from the Marauders. I sat down in between them, facing so I wouldn't have to see my brother and his friends. After a quick muttered 'hello' I got started on homework.

Since nothing was due sooner I figured I should start on the DADA homework. I got out parchment, a quill, and an inkwell and thought about what I was going to say. IT would be easy for me, but I would have to keep it to details that you could only get from books.

As I was sitting there, with my quill poised above the parchment, about to start, I heard my brother's voice, speaking with more volume than was necessary. "Well, I'm finally free, no one from my family to hold me down. I just wish it had happened a little sooner. Oh well, I'm just so happy that I don't have anyone holding me down anymore." I knew he was talking about me and the tears started coming back. I would have thought with all the crying I did today I would have nothing left, but apparently I did. Calia saw my bent head and the water swimming in my eyes.

"Free at last, free at last Lord Almighty I'm-"

"Sirius Orion Black!" The shout rang across the common room and he stopped and looked for the speaker. Calia was on her feet. "You disgust me. You killed my best friend, your own sister. Cassiopeia Black my still be living, but Cassi- she's dead, an empty shell. A mere shadow of who she used to be. She used to laugh and crack jokes, have a good time, but no more. Now she is sullen, she doesn't really care about anything anymore. She can't get through an entire day without breaking down crying, and it's all your fault. You are a monster, you should-" but he broke across her rant.

"I'm the monster? Why don't you-" but I couldn't let him go on, he couldn't expose me to the entire house of Gryffindor, I would be kicked out of Hogwarts for sure.

"Shut up!" I was standing now too, and I had turned to face him. I ignoring all the curious looks I was getting. "Just shut up! You can't even go like that because it's _your_ fault. That night I was running from _you_, and I've never told anyone because I knew you wouldn't be able to handle it. I feared you would do something stupid. Well now I _hope_ you do something stupid, I _hope_ you jump off the astronomy tower." I couldn't handle it. I ran. I ran out of the common room, I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to get away. So I ran, I ran like so many years ago, when cutting myself wasn't enough, and as I ran I remembered.

_A twelve year old Cassiopeia Black was running out of her house. It was during the summer holidays, between her first and second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there was no one to turn to. All of her friends were either still at school, or on vacation somewhere else. So she ran through the streets. She had to get away, away from Sirius. He would never leave her alone, he was always so mean. Whenever Regulus wasn't around to protect her Sirius would pick on her and hit her with things, and yell at her. Why didn't he like her? _

_She stopped running when she realized she had no idea where she was, and it was getting dark. She slowed to a walk and tried to figure things out. She lived at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, and right now she was on Barton Street, and she had no clue how to get home. She sat down on the curb and cried._

_Suddenly she heard a sound. Cassi looked up and saw a man standing there. He had dark hair and pale skin. When he spoke his voice was soothing and calm. "What is a young witch such as yourself doing out alone in the dark?" She wiped her eyes and looked up at him._

"_How do you know I'm a witch?" She asked._

"_I can just tell, I have a wand too, see?" He pulled out a thin stick of wood like the one she had received almost a year prior. She smiled up at him, and then stood. _

"_Do you know where Grimmauld Place is? I'm lost." He gave her a weird smile before replying._

"_I'm not from around here so I don't know, but I could help you look for it if you like."_

"_Thanks!" She had been young, but she still should have had some warning sign go off when he reached down and picked her up. He walked with her like that for some time before he put her down._

"_Here we are." He announced. Cassi looked around and didn't recognize anything._

"_This isn't where I live. I haven't ever seen this place before." Now the panic was starting to sink in, she tried to run but it was too late. He grabbed her before she could get farther than a few steps._

"_Now, now, now, there's nothing to be afraid of Cassiopeia."_

"_How do you know my name? Let me go."_

"_Feisty aren't we? Good, that is a sign that you will survive." She was about to ask what he was talking about but before she had the chance she felt something pierce her neck. And then pain, unbearable pain. She cried out, begged for it to stop, but then, the pain was going away. She started to feel tired, her heart seemed to pump slower and slower. The man's smiling face was the last thing she saw before blackness. _

_When she opened her eyes she was in her room. She thought it had all been a dream until she rubbed the side of her neck and felt two holes, about one inch apart. _

My feet had carried me to the dungeon, just outside of the Slytherin common room. I didn't know the password so I just banged on the wall until it opened, and someone came out. He wasn't in my year, probably a year ahead or so. He was skinny, with brown hair. "What do _you_ want?" He asked with a very superior tone.

"I need to speak to Regulus Black, can you ask him to come out?"

"Sorry, I'm not sure I know who you're talking about, and even if I did, I wouldn't." Now I really needed to talk to Reg, so I wasn't in the mood to put up with this Slytherin behavior. I pulled out my wand and pointed it at him.

"Ask around, you'll find him real quick." He turned to go into the common room. "Oh, and if you don't go and get him, I'll get you tomorrow." He nodded and went back inside.

A couple minutes later Regulus stumbled out of the portrait. Wearing only some Jack Daniels pajama pants I had given him. From the way his eyes were half closed I realized that he had been sleeping before he had come out.

"Hey, what's up Cass?"

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Author's Note: Okay, there's not really that much to say except Review! =]


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: On chapter eight the websites where I got the information were messed up so I will repeat them in this Author's Note. Werewolves- harrypotter (dot) wikia (dot) com /wiki/Werewolf (remove spaces) and the info on Vampires was- harrypotter (dot) wikia (dot) com/wiki/Vampire (remove spaces)

This chapter goes out to Remyi, AribethDA and CrimsonRoseXx who reviewed and made me start writing again. =] Keep the reviews coming!

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"Hey what's up Cass?" I ran forward to hug him. He carried me away from the Slytherin Common room and down into a secret passage. In a shaky voice I told him what had happened in the Gryffindor Common room, sometimes stopping to take calming breaths. Then I told him the secret I had kept from everybody until earlier when I had told Sirius. His face grew stony as I told him, and I could tell he was getting super pissed.

"Why that…" He was too angry to finish the sentence. I started getting scared he would do something rash. My suspicions were confirmed when he tried to get up and push past me. "When I'm done with him he's going to wish he was never born. I'm going to rip him limb from stinking limb." His face was glowering.

"No Reg, please don't. You can't. I can't see him hurt." I didn't know where the sudden affection came from but I knew it was sincere. I couldn't bear to see it. To know I was the cause. It was too much. I. Was. weak. But still the anger boiled inside him. I knew that if I let him out of my sight- out of my grasp for that matter- that he would run and find Sirius. "I know what he did was terrible, and that he's never been the best brother-" Here Reg cut me off with a hollow laugh.

"Never been the best brother?" He repeated. "He has been terrible to you. He always takes out his frustration at the family on _you_. Because you can defend yourself. He's a _coward_. Picking on someone who can't fight back. And who was there to protect you? Who was there to comfort you when he went too far? And who _wasn't_ there the one time you needed them most. _Me._ It's my fault just as much as it's his."

"No Reg, it's not your fault at all. You can't be there all the time. I'm the stupid one who went out and got lost. Stop blaming yourself. You always do it. Whenever I get hurt, you say it's your fault, no matter what actually happened. I'm not a little girl anymore, I can take responsibility for my own actions." He just looked down at the floor, silent. Finally he raised his head to look me in the face, and his eyes were shinning with unshed tears.

"I know, I know I always blame myself, but, I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you. I feel like I always have to protect you. Everything I've ever done has been to protect you, and I can't stop easily. I feel like if something happens to you I didn't do a good enough job of protecting you."

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**Sirius' POV**

Her words hit me like a stone wall. _It was my fault, my fault that she was a vampire. _I felt dizzy. My head was spinning. James was beside me; he was just standing there, shocked. I don't think he realized that there was anything wrong with me. The Common room was silent. Everyone that had been in here had witnessed the scene between Cassi and I. James turned to me, with a questioning look on his face. "Sirius, wha-?" I just shook my head; I had to get out of here. I started, stumbling at first, to the Portrait Hole. Once outside I transformed into a big shaggy black dog. I had to find Cassi. If I were Cassi where would I run?

Regulus. I started towards the dungeons. I had a rough idea of where the Slytherin Common Room was. I would just have to hope they were somewhere outside of it. I ran down seven floors, my padded feet making no sound on the on the rock beneath them. Then as I reached the Great Hall I heard a sound apart from my shallow breath. Voices. Voices I knew. Cassi and Regulus. It had to be. I came closer so I could here what they were saying.

I heard Regulus first. He sounded _royally _pissed. "Why that… When I'm done with him he's going to wish he was never born. I'm going to rip him limb from stinking limb."

Then surprisingly, I heard Cassi come to my defense. "No Reg, please don't. You can't. I can't see him hurt. I know what he did was terrible, and that he's never been the best brother-"

There was a laugh, and I knew it came from my brother. I knew he hated me, but his next words were like physical blow to my chest. "Never been the best brother? He has been terrible to you. He always takes out his frustration at the family on _you_. Because you can defend yourself. He's a _coward_. Picking on someone who can't fight back. And who was there to protect you? Who was there to comfort you when he went too far? And who _wasn't_ there the one time you needed them most. _Me._ It's just as much my fault as it is his." This confused me. _How was this Regulus' fault at all? He had nothing to do with it._

"No Reg, it's not your fault at all. You can't be there all the time. I'm the stupid one who went out and got lost. Stop blaming yourself. You always do it. Whenever I get hurt, you say it's your fault, no matter what actually happened. I'm not a little girl anymore, I can take responsibility for my own actions." There was a silence, and then Regulus' voice broke it, and it sounded think with emotion.

"I know, I know I always blame myself, but, I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you. I feel like I always have to protect you. Everything I've ever done has been to protect you, and I can't stop easily. I feel like if something happens to you I didn't do a good enough job of protecting you." _Wow, I never knew he cared about her so much. I only thought he cared about blood-purity and sucking up to my parents. _


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: I'm so so so so so so so sorry for this huge wait. But in my defense there were exams that I had to study for, and then I lost my flashdrive with all my stories in it. But now I have found it and it is summer so I will have more time to write and update. I also apologize for the skipping ahead from the thing with Sirius, but I didn't know what else to write for that, so I went ahead about a week. So here is what you've been waiting so long for:

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It has been a week since my fight with Sirius. Now we were both avoiding each other and I was spending more and more time with Regulus. This was one such evening we were sitting in the kitchens eating sweets. It was going on curfew so I told Reg I was tired and needed some sleep. He let me go without question.

I, however, had no intention of going to sleep. Not yet at least. There was something I had to do first. I made my way to the Great Hall. I concentrated very hard on the shape I wanted to take, and soon I felt my insides readjusting. I fell to the ground and gasped. My organs shrunk, my bones contorted and bent, my hair receded and fur sprang up all over my body. I was concentrating throughout the entire thing, blocking out the pain.

When my body had settled I looked around, everything was different. Well you would expect it to be. Being a human and being a bat are two completely different things. I spread out my wings and took flight, soaring into the air after getting used to it. Into the Great Hall and out the openings used for the owls to deliver post. Soon I was gliding over the Forbidden Forest, the stars and moon above me. The full moon gave out enough light that I could see with both my sonar vision and my eyes. I sent out a wave and saw the wilderness below with my ears. I was going to hunt tonight. Soon I saw a pack of wolves running beneath me.

I dove towards the ground. I was in hunt-phase so turning into my human-like hunting form was easy and took little concentration. I hit the ground with enough force to kill a normal person, but I'm not normal am I? The books say that vampires can only be strong and fast if they were trained or feeling an intense emotion. What they don't mention was that these assets are easily accessed when hunting. So when I took chase the wolves had no chance.

However, vampires differ from werewolves in many ways when hunting. We both transform, but a vampire will keep its mind. When a vampire transforms they look mostly human, but their eyes are blood red. Their hair-no matter what shade as a human- turns pitch black, and will flow and move on its own, looking like black flame sprouting from your head. Also your wounds from where you were first bitten show. You are stronger, faster and can morph in the blink of an eye. Sometimes when I'm agitated I will come out to the forest, transform, and just run.

Vampires also have the choice not to transform, but it's more of a challenge that way. Vampires who drink human blood normally don't transform because they think of it as a sport and if you put a pro-sports team up against beginners. The beginners are going to lose very fast and the pro team won't have to put much effort in, so it won't be as fun.

Since I kept my mind, and I greatly respected wolves I was careful about which one I chose to take down. Using my heightened senses I looked for any who were sick, injured or old. Just my luck, it seems a loner had joined the pack after being beaten into submission by the Alfa wolf. It must have been semi-recent because there was still a faint scent of blood. He was limping so slightly that a normal person would not have noticed it. But I did. This took care of my choice.

I cut him off from the others, but gave him a chance. I morphed into a wolf as well. I had leveled the playing field. We circled each other snarling and snapping. Waiting for the other to make its move. Finally he jumped forward, jaws open, saliva flying, aiming for my throat. I jumped out of the way and snapped at his back haunches. We returned to circling. I made the rush this time. I went to bite down on his injured foreleg but all I got was air. I felt his jaws close on my back and let out a whimper of pain. I tried shaking him loose, but he held on, and all it did was tear my back more. But I promised myself I would keep the fight fair. In another attempt to free myself from his grasp I kicked with my back legs. They connected. I pushed, digging my claws into his flesh. As soon as he released me we scampered away from each other. I was panting slightly and my back was aching.

This time, I would wait for him to rush me. I didn't have to wait long. Soon he made a dash towards me. I waited until the last moment, moved and grabbed his front legs with my teeth. I felt the bones crunching under my powerful jaws. All it took was a rough jerk and he was thrown onto his back. Before he could recover I went for his throat. I clamped down and ended the battle. It had been well fought on both sides, but in the end, he hadn't had a real chance.

I morphed into my hunting shape and silently paid homage to his spirit. After I was done I moved on to the actual feeding. It had been so long, and I was so close that my vision was tainted red. I moved to the neck, my fangs dripping in expectation. When they finally sank into the flesh of the wolf, and I began to feed, suddenly I couldn't get enough, I began to tear at the carcass, to get more blood flow. This feeling is almost that of a werewolf, because right now, even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop. My need for blood was so great. If I feed regularly, it's not too bad. But I hadn't fed in at least two weeks, and I normally feed once or twice a week. I could feel the power of the wolf transfering to myself as I drank.

After the body was drained of blood, I sat back. I felt so content, its like when humans finish a Thanksgiving meal, but much more intense. Using the back of my hand I wiped blood from my chin before licking it off. I stood back. With the fresh energy from the blood my transformation into a panther didn't take long. I was pretty far into the forest, and I fancied a four-legged run.

I raced away through the trees, occasionally leaping over fallen trees. It was times like these when all my problems seemed to melt away. When the only feeling or emotion was joy and exhilaration from the speed. Even the pain from my back seemed to melt away. As I reached the edge of the forest I morphed again, returning to my earlier bat form. I flew to the sill of the Gryffindor fourth year girls dormitory. Luckily I had known that I was going to be hunting tonight so I had left it open. I flew in and landed on the floor before turning into my normal self, and walking over to my trunk to get ready to go to sleep. I could take care my back in the morning. After my pajamas were on I slipped into my bed and fell instantly asleep, an after effect of drinking blood. You get a blast of energy, but then feel extremely tired. That's when my body is storing the energy transferred from the prey to me.

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The next morning when I woke up I decided I was going to tell Calia and Ashley. I don't even know how it happened but I just woke up and the first thing that popped into my head was _Today's the day. I'm going to tell them today. _Well, so far plan 'Tell Calia and Ashley I'm a vampire' has gone nowhere. And it's almost lunch. I think I'll tell them tonight. However a perfect opportunity arouse sooner than I thought. My back has been feeling much better thanks to a potion I keep stored in my trunk.

Just after lunch all three of us had a free period. For once we were not outside under "our" tree instead we were in the library. There was nobody else around, and we were in the very back, by the section about werewolves, so I figured it would be the perfect time to tell them.

"Hey you guys?" I started off tentatively.

"Yeah?" Ashley responded.

"I have to tell you something, and if you hate me I give you every right, but I only ask that you keep it to yourself."

"We would never hate you, we've been best friends since we met on the first train ride. You can tell us anything." Calia's reassurance made it a bit easier.

"Well, I'll start with the background story. When I was twelve Sirius had been bullying me a lot at home, and I got so mad that I ran. I wasn't running away for good." I added as they looked like they were about to ask that. "But I ran to get away from him. Of course I got lost. But I ran into this man." I shuddered at the memory. "Somehow he knew I was a witch, and I asked him if he could help me find my way home. Now that I look back on it, it was so stupid of me, I should have known, I was old enough. But I didn't. He told me he wasn't from around here but he could try. After a little bit of wandering he stopped and said 'Here we are.' But it wasn't where I lived and I told him that. I got scared and I tried to run. But-" I had to stop and take a steadying breath. "But he caught me before I could go anywhere. He told me there was no reason to be afraid. _He knew me name. _I asked him how he knew my name, and told him to let me go. And his exact words were 'Feisty aren't we? Good, that is a sign that you will survive.' He- He-" Another shaky breath. And then in almost a whisper I croaked out. "He was a vampire. And he bit me." I looked up to see their reactions. They were both shocked, but Ashley recovered first.

She hugged me while saying. "Oh Cassi, honey. We would never desert you just because you have a problem! We love you, and you haven't bitten us in the four years we've known you. Don't worry this wont change anything!" I smiled at her in my gratitude, but then my gaze switched to Calia. She was just staring at me with a calculating look on her face. I started to get nervous, fidgeting in my seat.

"Cal? Calia?" I reached an arm out to her, half expecting her to say something along the lines of "Don't touch me you filthy monster!" But the next second her face split into a smile and she hugged me as well.

"Yeah, don't worry, this wont change anything, we still love you to pieces!" I felt so relieved and happy. It was like a fifty pound weight had been taken off my shoulders. But little did I know who was listing on the other side of the bookcase.

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Author's Note: Dun Dun Dun Duhh! Sorry, I felt that was nessesary with that cliffie there. Yes I'm evil. I'm not sure how much I like this chapter, but I'll let you be the judge of that. So, as always, Read and Review. (It will help me update sooner!)


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: HAPPY HARRY POTTER DAY!!! This chapter is dedicated to Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince, which came out today.

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For once Remus Lupin was not surrounded by three other boys. He was alone, walking down the corridor after lunch. James was off trying to woo Lily, Sirius was with his flavor of the week and Peter was finishing homework in the common room. Remus decided he would go to the library. He walked towards the back, looking at the dusty titles, waiting for one to spark his interest. He was at almost the very back before he saw one that made him chuckle. _How Werewolves Are Planning to Take Over the World _By Charlotte Runns. He looked at the next title, _Werewolf Protection, All You Need to Know to Keep Yourself Safe From Werewolves. _He looked at the next one, and the one after that. They were all about werewolves. Just to be ironic, he figured he would read one, so he kept moving along the shelf. As he got to one that might be interesting, _Hunter of the Night, A Guide to Werewolves_, he heard a voice he recognized. It was Cassi's.

"…twelve Sirius had been bullying me a lot at home, and I got so mad that I ran. I wasn't running away for good. But I ran to get away from him. Of course I got lost. But I ran into this man. Somehow he knew I was a witch, and I asked him if he could help me find my way home. Now that I look back on it, it was so stupid of me, I should have known, I was old enough. But I didn't. He told me he wasn't from around here but he could try. After a little bit of wandering he stopped and said 'Here we are.' But it wasn't where I lived and I told him that. I got scared and I tried to run. But-" She paused, and he could hear her take a breath. "But he caught me before I could go anywhere. He told me there was no reason to be afraid. _He knew me name._" Remus felt a shiver run up his spine. "I asked him how he knew my name, and told him to let me go. And his exact words were 'Feisty aren't we? Good, that is a sign that you will survive.' He- He-" Remus knew this was something very private and if Cassi wanted him to know she would tell him. He turned to leave but her next words stopped him in his tracks. "He was a vampire. And he bit me." The words were whispered and he barely heard them. Not for the first time Remus silently cursed his heightened hearing from being a werewolf.

He quickly left the library, his head spinning with this new information. Not registering where he was going it came as a surprise to him when he found himself in front of the Fat Lady. He muttered the password and climbed through, going straight up to his dorm. Not even registering as Peter called his name. _Cassi is a vampire. _The thought reverberated in his head like a never-ending record. _So she knows the feeling of exile too, maybe I should talk to her. No, then she would know I eavesdropped and found out about her secret. But then I could tell her mine. _In the end Remus decided not to tell her, but to act as if nothing had happened. With that thought he picked up his bag and headed to his next class.

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After telling Calia and Ashley I felt so much happier, and I felt free. I couldn't wait to tell Reg. After classes let out I was able to find him. He was walking down the hall ahead of me. "Reg!" He turned around and smiled when he saw me. "I need to tell you something." He nodded,

"Kitchens?"

"Of course!" We made our there through the crowds. Once we reached our destination a house elf came bounding up to us.

"Mister and Mistress Black! The usual I'm guessing?" We nodded and went to sit down at a table. We talked about little things until a house elf came bearing a huge platter of sweets and two mugs of butterbeer.

"Now what did you want to talk to me about?" Regulus started.

"Well, I'm just gonna come right out and say it: I told Calia and Ashley I'm a vampire." He had just taken a drink of his butterbeer, but he spit it out across the table.

"You what?" He spat.

"I told them, and they don't care. They're fine with it, and it feels so good knowing that someone other than you and Sirius know and don't care. That someone else excepts me for who I am." I said defensively. I couldn't understand why he was angry.

"It was a stupid thing to do." _Stupid?_

"How was it stupid? I trusted them, and it was fine! I don't know why you're reacting like this."

"What if it wasn't fine? What if they went off and told everyone? It was reckless, you shouldn't have done it, and you're never going to do it again." That pissed me off. I stood up. I could tell we were scaring the house elves but I didn't care.

"Who are _you_ to tell me what I can and can not do? You sound like Sirius, thinking you can control my life." He stood up too, moving towards me, and for a second I swear I thought he was going to hit me.

"I am nothing like him." He started to storm out.

"Why cant you just be happy for me?" I shouted at his retreating back.

I apologized to the elves before leaving.

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Author's Note: Sorry it's so short, but I wanted to get it up today. In other news someone keeps flaming my stories. The same person is flaming almost every story I update/upload. They leave annonymous reviews, and it's really starting to annoy me. Seriously, if you don't like my stories then you don't have to read them. Also, they always know when my stories come out, so they obviously have me on alert. If my stories are so bad they make you "want to puke" or whatever, then don't read them. It's that simple. I have left the reviews up if you care to read them. They are on the stories _Remain Forever, Shades of Grey _and_ Friends Forever._ And if you feel the need to read stories you don't like, keep the critisism reasonable, because you just sound like and idiot when your trying to insult me. Thank you,

Naflower05


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it really helps me get writting. =]

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My eyes stung as I left the kitchens. I was walking not watching where I was going. It was a good thing there weren't many students out, I must have been a right sight, and I would have bumped into everyone. Finally I saw a little alcove that looked perfect for crying in. And there I was sobbing my heart out when Severus found me. "Cassi?" I looked up bleary eyed, and there he was looking down at me with concern etched in his face.

"Sev." I croaked out. He bent down next to me and just held me. It was the comfort I needed I just let myself melt into him as he whispered into my ear that everything was going to be all right. When I had clamed down and stopped crying I pushed myself back so I could look at him. He brought his hand up to my face and wiped my tears away with his thumb.

"Hey there, now what's all this about?" he asked me gently.

"Reg, he's such a prick. He's normally not, but he started acting like Sirius, telling me what I can and cannot do. I guess I over reacted, but he's never been like it before, and it was over something stupid, I did something, and he thought I shouldn't have done it, and he's trying to take over, I just don't understand." I was crying again.

"Shh, its okay. Hey, why don't you clean up and we'll go for a walk? We can go to the lake, or the forest." I nodded and he helped me up. "Do you want me to wait here or…?" he trailed off.

"Will you come with me? And wait outside my common room." He looked unsure, but followed anyways.

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He was walking back to the common room when he heard someone crying then heard voices, he inched closer to and alcove where it seemed to be coming from. What he saw inside was a great surprise. Snivillus was inside comforting- no it couldn't be! But it was: Cassiopeia Black. Her sobs had subsided and he could now hear what they were saying.

"Reg, he's such a prick. He's normally not, but he started acting like Sirius, telling me what I can and cannot do. I guess I over reacted, but he's never been like that before, and it was over something stupid, I did something, and he thought I shouldn't have done it, and he's trying to take over, I just don't understand." _Neither do I_ he thought.

"Shh, its okay. Hey, why don't you clean up and we'll go for a walk? We can go to the lake, or the forest." _Oh my god. Snivillus is being considerate!_ But then it dawned on him that they would be leaving and they would see him if he stayed here, he quickly and quietly retreated, and only once they had disappeared from view did James Potter continue in his way.

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Sirius, Remus and Remus were heading back to the common room, laughing and joking. They had just turned onto the Fat Lady's corridor when Sirius said, "My Snivillus senses are tingling." As a joke from this book thing they had taken from some First Year.

"What makes you say that?" Peter asked.

"That." Sirius was pointing ahead to where Snape was leaning against a wall. "Let's go." Sirius had pulled out his wand and was advancing on Snape with Peter behind him. Remus had hung back.

"Sirius I don't-" He started, but knew it would do nothing.

"All right there, Snivillus?" Sirius asked as he came close to Snape. Severus spun around and started to pull out his wand, but Sirius already had his out. "Expelliarmus." Snape's wand flew out of his hand and into Sirius'. Sirius flicked his wand and suddenly Snape was hanging upside down. Peter was laughing like an idiot. Remus sighed. Sirius was smirking. Snape was glowering, and trying to hold his robes up. None of them noticed the Portrait Hole had opened until Sirius was hit with a spell, and he fell to the ground. Snape started to fall, but was caught, and lowered gently to the ground. Peter looked up in fear at Cassiopeia, she threw a hex at him, and he fell down, stiff as a board. She then bent down to help Severus up.

"Here Sev, come on." Then she turned on Remus. "You should be ashamed of yourself, you're a Prefect, you're supposed to stop people like _him-_" she shot Sirius a dirty look. "From bullying innocent people, instead of just standing there and letting it happen. Dumbledore made you Prefect in hope that you would, but I guess you're just a disappointment. Let's go Sev." They walked away leaving Remus standing there.

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"Oh my god Sev, I'm so sorry, I didn't think they would be there or I would never had you wait for me there. I should have known better, I'm so sorry!" Sev just laughed ioff my apology.

"Cassi, don't worry, I 'm fine, anyways, its what they do. Eat, sleep, play quidditch, eat some more and attack 'Snivillus'."

"Oh Sev, don't call yourself that ridiculous name, it's terrible." Why didn't he care? I don't understand how he can't care that they attack him all the time.

We were walking along the edge of the lake, and the sun was setting. It was absolutely beautiful. When we made it to the area closer to Hogwarts we found some rocks near the lake and sat down. I picked up some pebbles and started to toss them into the water. It was peacefull like this, not saying anything, just me and him.

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Author's Note: Sorry this is so short, but I'm going to camp today and I wont be back for three weeks. So please review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. =]


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Yes, I'm horrible, I know. I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in forever, but I just didn't really have any inspiration. However it's extra long to try and make up for it, this would be about two and a half chapters if I went by my normal length, but it fits like this anyways. This is my Christmas gift to those of you who celebrate it, and if you don't this is my [insert other holiday here] gift to you. I hope you enjoy it! A big thanks goes out to Animelover210, i-want-cheese, 93, lifeISaDRAGxXilyXx, and hello.i'.black who all reviewed last chapter, it's really great to know that someone likes it. A **SUPER** huge thanks goes to hello.i'.black who is the person responsible for this chapter, it was her review that made me sit down and actually write, and what do you know? Once I do the words just start to flow. So this chapter is for everyone who reviewed, have happy holidays and no school! On one last note before you get to read the chapter you've waited so long for, there is a little fluff in this chapter, so I hope you like it!

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A couple weeks had passed and I had been ignoring the Marauders without too much trouble. James and Remus had tried talking to me, but I had just ignored them. I was currently sitting in Defense holding hands with Aaron under the table. I looked over at him and smiled. He had longish light brown hair that fell just above blue eyes. He was 5"6, taller than me by three inches. He's a chaser just like me, but he doesn't play on the house team. He was really kind and smart. He paid attention in class and did his homework, overall a really great guy. He glanced at me and noticed that I was staring at him. I quickly looked away before glancing back at him, he was still looking at me and it made me smile. I rested my head on his shoulder and he stealthily put his arm around me. I smiled again, life was good.

When the bell rang we walked out of the classroom, dinner was next. We followed the crowd until we got to the Entrance Hall where I started to go into the Great Hall, but he pulled me back. "I have a surprise for you." He said in answer to my questioning look. He pulled me out onto the grounds but covered my eyes before I could get a good look around. We walked for a bit before he told me to sit down. I noticed that I was sitting on a cloth, not grass. When he took his hands off my eyes I looked around. We were on a picnic blanket by the lake, food was set out and the sun was starting to set across the water. It was beautiful.

"Aaron, this is- I love it!" I squealed. He just looked at me with a smile on his face. "What's it for?" I asked.

"As of today, we have been dating for one month." He replied.

"Awwwww! Aaron, thank you so much, this is wonderful!"

"Thanks, I had the house elves prepare a basket for us."

I smiled and we started eating when we had finished he pulled a blanket out of the picnic basket and we cuddled up and watched the sun finish setting and the stars come up. I looked over at him. "Thank you Aaron, this was brilliant." He looked down at me, and then he got closer. Our lips met and it was slow and sensual, somehow I ended up on my back with him above me, still connected by our lips. He ran his tongue across my bottom lip, asking for entrance, I complied. Our tongues met battling with each other for dominance. Eventually we just lay down and gazed up at the stars, my head on his chest and his arm around me. I don't know how long we stayed like that but I must have drifted off because Aaron was shaking me gently. I looked up bleary eyed at him. "What time is it?" I whispered.

"I don't know I fell asleep too." He replied, still in a whisper.

"Well we better get up to the castle, can't stay out here all night." He nodded in agreement and got up and started to pack up the picnic materials, I got up and folded the blanket. We started to head inside, making sure to be extra quite as we were sure it was after curfew, we took all the secret passages I knew to avoid any patrolling teachers or worse, Peeves. We finally reached the Portrait Hole where a disgruntled Fat Lady let us in after being awakened. We reached the common room expecting it to be empty but in the chairs closest to the fire were James and Sirius talking in low voices. They stopped when we came in and Sirius glared at us. I ignored him and pulled on Aaron's sleeve. When we reached the bottom of the staircases I gave him a goodnight kiss that must have lasted a little longer than necessary because I could have sworn I heard Sirius swear from behind me. I pulled away and giggled. "Night Aaron, I really had fun tonight, Thanks."

"Night Cassi, I had fun too." He said. Then I turned and walked up the stairs to my dorm. I changed into my PJs and got ready for bed. When I pulled back my curtains it was all I could do to not scream from shock. There a=on my bed asleep sitting up side-by-side were Calia and Ashley. After I got over my initial shock it was pretty funny, they had obviously tried to wait up for me but had fallen asleep before I had returned. I checked the clock on my bedside table, 1.47 well no wonder they were asleep, but what were James and Sirius doing up? Were they waiting for me to return? No, they had to have been up for another reason. Seeing as my bed was occupied I went over to Calia's bed and got under the covers. I was so tired I was asleep pretty fast.

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I was woken up the next morning by two heavy weights landing on me. I blinked open my heavy eyelids to see Ashley and Calia smiling down at me. I groaned and turned over, fully intending to go back to sleep. This intention, however, went right out the window when they both started ticking me. I started squirming, laughing and begging for them to stop. When they finally stopped I was breathless from all my laughing. I glared up at them, "That was horrible." I said, still slightly out of breath. Calia just shrugged.

"That's what you get for coming back so late last night! We waited up for hours and you never returned!" She said with mock anger.

"Yeah we want answers, what happened to you last night?" Ashley chimed in. I just laughed.

"Aaron had a picnic set up to celebrate us being together for one month, and when we finished we watched the stars and fell asleep outside. I got back in around 1.45 to find two monsters sleeping in my bed!" The last part I said with a slightly accusatory tone to my voice. They just grinned sheepishly.

"We wanted to know what happened and we figured- well we _didn't_ figure on falling asleep, and we thought if you came back and we were in your bed you wouldn't be able to escape our questions." Ashley said. We all laughed for a little bit before I realized we had classes that morning.

"Guys what time is it?" I asked, Calia looked at the clock next to her bed.

"Seven thirty." She said. "SEVEN THIRTY?!" Calia looked back at the clock before getting off her bed and rushing around to get ready. I got up too and got on my uniform, took care of my teeth and pulled a brush quickly through my hair.

As we were rushing down the stairs into the common room I realized something. "Wait guys, slow down, its Wednesday, we have Binns first hour and he won't realize if we're late or not. We slowed down considerably, but still only had a quick breakfast, just grabbing toast and some fruit, before going on our way. The bell rang as we were on our way our of the Great Hall, and we were at least five minutes late before we reached the door to the History of Magic classroom. We opened it and quietly slipped inside. I found a seat near the back that Aaron had saved for me. When I sat down I smiled at him in appreciation.

"Running a little late are we?" He whispered in my ear. I nodded.

"Yeah, Calia and Ashley assaulted me this morning and we had a little chat in Calia's bed, which I happened to be sleeping in." I said with a laugh, he gave me a questioning look. "Oh yeah! Calia and Ashley were waiting up for me in my bed, but they had fallen asleep by the time I got up to the dorm, so I just slept in Calia's bed." He laughed too and we turned our attention to try and pay attention to whatever Binns was talking about.

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That night after dinner I would have to go hunting, I hadn't gone yet this week, I wasn't able to go yesterday because I was with Aaron, and I had Astronomy tomorrow night. I would have to go tonight. I waited until everyone was asleep. I had told Calia and Ashley that I hunt animals from the forest, but I hadn't gone into detail. I was most vampire when I was hunting, and I didn't want to expose them to that if I could avoid it. I decided to go out the window to avoid anyone up late in the common room, namely my brother or any of his friends. I opened the window, climbed out onto the ledge and closed it, making sure it stayed unlatched. Feeling in the mood for something exhilarating I decided I would make a flying change, and I jumped off the edge. I let myself fall about a hundred feet, and I morphed into a bat while I was still pretty far above the ground. I wasn't worried about hitting the ground and going splat. No, I was a vampire, I was too strong for that, more like the ground would go splat. But really it would just make probably a really big noise and shake the ground. I actually believe some of the lower level earthquakes have been cause by vampires falling from great distances. But, no matter.

By now I was flying over the Forbidden Forest, using my sonar vision to detect any potential prey beneath. There! I picked up on something. I honed in on it and prepared to drop down and confront in when I realized it was a unicorn. I had too much respect for unicorns to even think of killing one, let alone drinking its blood. Not to mention that unicorn blood is cursed. I continued on my search. In a clearing I came across a heard of deer, perfect. I dropped down, morphing into my hunt-phase and shaking the ground when I landed. The deer jumped and took off. With my extreme speed it was easy to keep up, looking for any weaknesses. None. Ill go for age then. I singled out an older stag, changing my shape yet again, this time into a leopard. I stretched my four legs, but the stag was still running, and I gave chase. I was gaining ground, but I had the upper advantage, mobility in the close proximity of the trees in the forest. Soon I was a yard away. Two feet. One foot. I leaped and sunk my legs into its back haunches collapsing its back legs. It tried to get back up but I had transformed back into my hunt-phase and had reached up and snapped its neck as easily as a humane might snap a toothpick. It was more humane this way and I felt it was my duty to keep it as quick and painless as possible for the stag. I said a quick thanks to the stag's spirit and pulled its head into my lap. My fangs extended and I sunk them into the stag's neck. As usual the bloodlust took over and I started tearing into the carcass, draining all the blood from it as possible. Also as usual I felt the transfer of energy from the stags body to my own. I left the rest of the carcass in the forest for some other beast to make a meal out of, and transformed into a bat flying up into the air and back towards Gryffindor tower. I reached the ledge outside the fourth year girls' dorm and went to push open the window. Nothing happened. Oh no! Someone must have locked it from the inside! How am I going to get back into the tower? _The boys' dorm!_ I thanked the voice in my head as I turned back into a bat and flew around to the fifth year boys' dorm. I landed on their ledge and pushed on the window. It swung inward, _success! _Now I just have to get out of their dorm, down to the common room and back up to my dorm without anyone realizing, shouldn't be too difficult.

Ahh, but it seems I spoke too soon, for I had forgotten how messy a guys dorm could be and I had hopped down into the room, closed the window and started to move silently across the floor when I ran into someone's trunk, it scraped across the floor, in reality not making very much noise at all, but it the complete silence of the dorm it sounded like thunder to me. I cursed to myself and hoped none of the boys had woken up. I watched the floor more carefully now and quickly made my way to the door, opening it and slipping out silently. I crept down the stairs and peered out into the common room to see if there was still anyone out there, crap there were! Since I had just consumed blood it was relatively easy to change into my hunt-phase shape, run from the bottom of the boy's staircase to the middle of the girl's staircase and back into normal Cassi. I knew it had been dangerous, being in hunt-phase I was much more perceptive, and would have the urge to drink blood more than when I was in my normal body. I was so tired, I had to get to my bed. I climbed the last couple of stairs and went into my dorm. I collapsed on my bed and was instantly asleep.

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Remus Lupin had been lying awake in bed when he heard a noise outside their window. Then he heard it being pushed open, the quiet _thump _of someone jumping into the room. _How could that be? Gryffindor tower was - well a tower. How could anyone get up here?_ His sensitive wolf ears heard someone moving stealthily cross the floor, and his nose picked up the scent of blood. _Blood?_ Then the sound of a trunk moving a couple inches and a quiet swear. But wait! that was a familiar voice! And then it all clicked into place. It was Cassi, she must be coming back from hunting. _But why wouldn't she just go through her own window? Maybe it was locked?_ Remus made a mental note to make sure their dorm window was always unlocked, just in case. He heard her make her way out of the dorm and down the stairs. With his thoughts he was able to fall asleep.

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Author's Note: So there it is, the long awaited chapter. I hope you liked it, let me know through a review. Remember it was a review that got this chapter written, so be my inspiration to write! Also I got a laptop for Christmas *squee*!!!!! So maybe that will help me to update more often. Again, review, it really does help me update faster!!!

P.S.

I uploaded a two-shot from Bellatrix's POV for when she's in Azkaban, check out my profile if you want to read it. =]


	15. Not a chapter, sorry!

Hey guys,

First, I'm very sorry about the lack of updates, and really there is no excuse, but I feel like this story isn't my best. Not only are there a ton of grammatical and spelling errors, but some things just don't match up. I also just feel like I can write better, and because I don't like it very much I haven't been inspired to write this. But do not worry, I am NOT abandoning this fic. I think that I'm going to go back and re-write it, and maybe that will help me put up new chapters. So check for the updates, and until then thank you for your loyal support. =]

Love, Naflower05

P.S. You can check out my other story Shades of Grey, and expect to see new stories because the plot bunnies are running wild in my head. =]


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